1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for surface treatment and/or coating and/or producing construction elements, in particular, flat construction elements of glass, glass alloys or metal, by a continuous process, wherein the device is comprised of several production chambers arranged successively and closely adjacent to one another in the transport direction of the substrates and having at their ends through openings. The production chambers are comprised of a stationary chamber part and a detachable chamber part. They are connectable to a vacuum source. The production chamber is delimited by metallic walls, and the chamber parts are formed in their edge area with oppositely positioned sealing surfaces.
2. Description of the Related Art
Devices of this kind are used, inter alia, by Leybold-Heraeus GmbH, Hanau, Germany, as so-called continuous processing devices for coating of sheet or plate glass and are described in more detail in the brochure 14-200.1/2 dated May 5, 1982. In the introductory portion of this brochure reference is made to the energy exchange in the area of windows of a building. In this connection, in temperate and cold climate zones, especially in winter, energy costs are to be saved by reducing the heat loss. However, in warm countries the sun ray transmission is to be reduced significantly in order to keep the room temperature low. This also requires a lot of energy. Subsequently, heat-reflecting coatings as well as coating methods and coating devices employed therefor are described.
In a further brochure 14-300.1, dated Oct. 5, 1983, of the same company, a device of the aforementioned kind is described with the aid of a drawing. The device is comprised of several production chambers 3 to 11 which are successively arranged closely adjacent to one another from the right to the left in the transport direction of the substrates or the glass panes. A washing device and a buffer station are arranged upstream thereof, and a buffer station and an optical quality control device are arranged downstream thereof. This device is characterized inter alia by high cost efficiency, universal range of application, short cycle times, high degree of automation, high comfort of operation, environmentally safe operation, and high-quality standard of the coated sheet or plate glass. For the disclosed coating method horizontal or vertical continuous processes are offered. Color-neutral heat reducing coatings, decorative, colored sun protection coatings as well as coatings for automotive glass can be applied by these continuous processing methods.
Devices of this kind are also used for the manufacture of absorbers, photovoltaic devices, and other manufacturing processes carried out in vacuum.
The disclosed processing chambers which, as a result of a high vacuum, are subjected to high pressure loading from the exterior, require a correspondingly high construction expenditure. For this purpose, the lower chamber parts which are positioned on frames on the floor and form the hollow space or interior of a production chamber are formed by strong lateral profiled supports and by rib-shaped strips extending at the underside of the bottom in a transverse direction. The upper chamber part which rests on the lower chamber part is similar to a cover and provided with a large number of ribs for maintaining the required high strength during production of the glass panes passing through on a roll table. For opening the production chambers, the upper chamber parts are connected by a pivotable arm to the lower chamber parts. The individual production chambers are connected by slot-like through openings in order to allow transport of the glass panes through the device. At the inlet and outlet ends of the device the openings for the incoming and exiting construction elements are provided with actuatable flaps in order to be able to keep flooding of the production chambers in check, i.e., within acceptable limits. Between the chamber parts and the individual production chambers seals are arranged which are indispensable for maintaining the vacuum required for the manufacturing or coating process.
For the proper function of this known device, which is manufactured exclusively of high-quality construction steel with a high weight, a high construction expenditure is required which ensures a high strength and tightness between the chamber parts of a production chamber and between the production chambers. After completion of the extensive welding labor on the chamber parts, the resulting warping of the welding construction requires a cutting machining for producing flat sealing surfaces. However, this machining can only be performed on machine tools which have a clamping surface area that is larger than the surface area of the chamber parts placed thereon.